


The Love Between Us

by ElisaPhoenix



Series: Supreme Family Chaos [45]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Gen, M/M, Night Terrors, Other, Protective Stephen Strange, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Tony Stark/Stephen Strange parenting Peter Parker | Supremefamily | Strange Family, Tooth-Rotting Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-04
Updated: 2019-07-04
Packaged: 2020-06-03 21:18:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19472407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ElisaPhoenix/pseuds/ElisaPhoenix
Summary: If the nightmares are bad enough, Tony still calls for his suits.





	The Love Between Us

**Author's Note:**

> Tumblr prompt. Guys, thanks for being so patient if I haven't gotten to your requests. I'm getting them from AO3, Fanfiction, and Tumblr so there's a lot.

Stephen blinks tiredly at the sudden jolt in the bed next to him and he looks over his shoulder to find Tony flinching in his sleep. Another nightmare. The man could probably write a book with the variety of nightmares he had. Whether it was the now rare nightmare of the wormhole during the Chitauri invasion (rare because he was used to traveling by portal because of Stephen and on occasion Wong; he didn't trust any other sorcerer's), Sokovia, Siberia (those dreams were uncommon as well since he made amends with Steve and Bucky), or anything his subconscious could come up with involving Peter and/or Stephen. Those were always the worst. They scared him to a point that he would often wake in a panic attack and even after he calmed down, he would drag Peter out of bed and into the master bedroom. 

Those nights were even worse if Stephen wasn't home. The panic would last longer, and more often than not, FRIDAY had to wake up Peter anyway so the teen could help his father claw his way back to reality.

"Tony." Stephen rasps as he carefully reaches out. "Love, wake up."

He would later blame his sleep muddled mind for the terrible decision he made of grabbing Tony's shoulder. The engineer's reaction was instantaneous. He grabs Stephen's hand in a death grip, nearly crushing it, and in turn making it incredibly painful, and the sorcerer had to fight through the pain to conjure a shield with his free hand just as one of Tony's suits crash into the room. It fires a repulsor at Stephen that he successfully deflects with the shield and then attempts to shake his husband into awareness.

"Victor! Override FRIDAY and power down the suit!" The doctor wrenches his hand out of Tony's grip as the suit powers down and he gently grabs the billionaires face. "Tony...Tony look at me! You're okay." 

The two struggle for a few more minutes until Tony finally becomes more aware of his surroundings and releases a shuddering breath. Stephen didn't dare move as he let the elder man take in the room through less frantic eyes and get his breathing under control. It took about five minutes for Tony to get back to some semblance of normal, and when he did, the first thing he noticed was one of Stephen's hands shaking uncontrollably. 

The one he had unintentionally crushed in one of his own.

"Oh shit." Tony exhales sharply as he grabs the injured hand as gently as possible. "I hurt you didn't I?"  
"I don't care about that right now. Are you okay?" Stephen asks softly. He didn't withdraw his hand though. Tony would massage the pain away to make up for the damage he caused, but the sorcerer let him because it would distract him from the panic.  
"Yeah. Fine. I'm--" Tony glances behind the sorcerer in his lap and blanches at the sight of one of his suits standing by the door. "Fuck! I did it again--"  
"Tony." The sorcerer interrupts quietly, getting the man to focus back on him. "Calm down. I had Victor take care of it."

There was worry in dark brown eyes, but Stephen just slid his free hand down to Tony's neck to bring him into a hug. The engineer carefully drops the doctor's other hand to wrap his own arms around Stephen's waist, and rests his forehead on his bare clavicle. It was the only comfortable position for Tony since Stephen was still straddling his legs but it was still pleasant. Stephen knew that his husband was worried he would leave to sleep somewhere else, but the doctor wasn't Pepper. Unlike him, she had no way to protect herself from a suit like Stephen did, so it was understandable the moment left her shaken. She was also lucky that Tony had woken up and realized what was happening before the suit attacked and managed to shut it down.

Stephen was not so fortunate, but he had magic and Victor. This was not the first time this incident with a nightmare and a suit had happened, and it was one of the reasons Tony integrated Stephen's AI into the entire tower. He also gave Victor authorization to override FRIDAY in case of an emergency. Karen had the same authorization, but it was only if both Tony and Stephen were incapacitated or something. Peter was aware of the fact but thankfully hasn't needed to use it. Yet.

"Better?" Stephen asks as he drops his head to press his forehead against Tony's.  
"Better." The man confirms as he gives the younger a gentle kiss. "I'm sorry."  
"Everything is fine. You took care of my hand and the suit didn't hurt me." Stephen moves away. "Do you need Peter?"  
"...no."  
"Okay...do you think you can go back to sleep?"  
Tony laughs half-heartedly. "Not a chance."

Stephen nods and grabs Tony's watch off the nightstand to look at the time. Five in the morning. He wouldn't try to trick Tony into sleep then. So, after returning the kiss, he moves off of his husband's lap and climbs out of bed to make his way out of the room.

"I'll go start some coffee for you. At least this early we can enjoy the calm before the storm."  
Tony frowns, not having moved an inch. "Babe, you don't need to do that. Go back to sleep."  
"Do you want coffee or not?"  
"Skip the water. Just give me the beans." Tony says as he finally slides out of bed and points at his dark suit. "You _have to_ go back to bed. Think long and hard about what you did."

The suit lights up and makes its way back down to the lab and Tony smiles when his words earn a snort of amusement from Stephen.

"Did you just ground your suit?"  
"It attacked you."  
"No it didn't." Stephen lies.  
"Don't lie to me Stephanie." Tony walks over to the sorcerer and fingers the charred fabric on the shoulder of Stephen's shirt. "At least it was just your shirt. _That_ can be replaced."

Stephen sighs and heads out of the bedroom and into the kitchen to start the coffee, and Tony follows silently, except instead of joining him in the kitchen, he goes into the living room and sits on the couch. The next few minutes pass quietly, with only the low sound of the tv to fill the void, and Stephen makes himself some tea as he waits for the coffee to finish brewing. There was no doubt in his mind that Tony felt awful about sending the suit after Stephen, but he was at least handling it a bit better than before. He was probably glad that he had the mind to give Stephen control of the tower through Victor so he could stop the suit on command this time.

Last time, the doctor actually got hit because it was the first time and Stephen hadn't been expecting it. He had to yell at Tony to wake him up so the engineer could stop the suit. Stephen was able to heal himself without any problem but Tony felt guilty and wouldn't go to bed for three days with the fear it might happen again. At least in those three days, he came up with the idea of letting Victor and Karen override FRIDAY. She was still the main AI for the tower though.

"Straight black or do you want your pound of sugar?" Stephen teases.  
"I want it as dark as my soul." Tony returns, making Stephen chuckle as he pours the coffee into the mug.  
"I better put some milk in it then."  
"Are you insinuating I'm nice? I don't do nice. I'm a sarcastic asshole that--"  
"That adopted a fifteen year old boy from Queens when his last remaining relative died so he wouldn't go into the system. That made me a suit to give me extra physical protection. That forgave a brainwashed man that killed your parents _and_ the man that hurt you to protect him." Stephen joins Tony on the couch with two steaming mugs. "That always takes the spot on the bed closest to the door whenever we go on vacation so anyone stupid enough to come after me and Peter has to get through you first--"  
"There are other things I'd rather have you stroke than my ego." Tony interrupts this time as he takes his coffee. No milk in it despite the sorcerer's joke much to his pleasure. "You make it hard to hate myself."  
Stephen props his feet on the coffee table and then leans against Tony's side, prompting the engineer to throw an arm around his shoulders as he sets his own feet on the table. "Isn't that why you married me?"  
"Actually I married you because you stepped into a parent role for Peter when you didn't have to. You protect our world from magical threats instead of using your magic to heal your hands and go back to being a neurosurgeon. You glare the team into behaving before the drive me crazy. You make sure Peter and I get fed and sleep on a regular basis...you really are a MILF--"  
Stephen rolls his eyes. "Alright. I get it."

Tony grabs the back of Stephen's head and pulls him into a passionate kiss. Coffee and tea intermingling briefly before the engineer pulls back away.

"I married you because I love you, _cuore mio_."  
Stephen turns bright red, the blush reaching the tops of his ears, and quickly throws a free hand over Tony's mouth. "Don't get me started. It's too early for that."  
Tony chuckles after the hand is moved away. "I'm serious Stephen."

He knew. Stephen got annoyed when the engineer always used nicknames for the sorcerer, but over time he realized Tony only ever really used his name when he was serious. He had gotten so used to the nicknames, that when his husband actually used his given name, Stephen stopped and listened. Like now. It just made Tony's words that much more intense. It held the feelings the elder had difficulty showing at times. 

"I know." Stephen mutters finally after some tv filled silence. "I love you too."

**Author's Note:**

> I'm actually kind of proud of this one. I felt like there needs to be a little more focus on just Tony and Stephen at least every once in a while.


End file.
